River trail closes after less than a week due to 'bizarre temperatures'

Unseasonably mild weather across Southern Manitoba is slowing down winter activities – many of which were already delayed this season.

The Forks announced Tuesday that  it was temporarily closing its Nestaweya River Trail less than a week after a section of it opened.

Zach Peters, The Forks’ marketing and communications manager attributed the shut down to “rising and bizarre temperatures for this time of year.”

The not-so-frigid forecast hasn’t been friendly to The Forks this season. Now with the river trail, the canopy rink and Winnipeg 150 Winter Park trails out of service, it’s unclear when or if these seasonal activities will start up again.

“Even if the temperatures during the day are warmer, as long as at night it’s really freezing and we can get back out there and do a nice flood and scrape, that will at least allow us to maintain it,” said Peters.

But Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) said that may not be possible.

“We’re not really seeing any big deep freeze or anything like that coming to southern Manitoba anytime soon again,” said ECCC warning preparedness meteorologist Natalie Hasell.

The lack of a cold spell could spell trouble for other parts of the province, including in northern communities. While most winter roads opened Monday, Hasell said it may not be enough.

“They might not have managed to create enough of a network of winter roads,” she said. 

But some Winnipeggers are making the most of the unseasonably warm weather and are trying to stretch out the season for as long as they can.

“We’re needing to come up with alternate strategies,” said FortWhyte Alive group services manager Barret Miller. “So perhaps a guided snowshoe is now a guided hike.”

Hasell said these alternate strategies will probably stick around for weeks to come.

“It’s pretty safe to say that the overall season will be quite warm and well above normal,” she said.

While some may be welcoming the warm weather, Hasell warns drivers to check conditions before they hit the road. That same advice also applies to people looking to hit the ice, as patches and puddles could be dangerous.